Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
South Point 400 Media Availability
Saturday, October 11, 2025

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 4 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse – CHASE ELLIOTT HAS WON THE MOST POPULAR DRIVER AWARD MULTIPLE TIMES, BUT DO YOU THINK THIS COULD BE YOUR YEAR? “I’d hope so, but I doubt it. I don’t know what the numbers look like as far as how much he wins by every year, but he’s got a pretty strong fan base that, at least a fan base that votes a lot. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a fan base that votes for me in the Truck Series and winning the most popular driver there, and then Xfinity Series, but I can’t accurately answer that question. I hope so, but if we’re going off the track record, he’s got everybody covered.”

WHAT IS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY? “We try out best to keep things, like there’s different areas that we focus on with our social team. Instagram and Twitter, it’s more personal between myself and the fans and trying to keep the Instagram and the Twitter posts more raw, not so staged or choreographed. I feel like everybody just wants raw on Instagram. We’ve hired a full-time guy to do some You Tube videos. The fans have been excited over it, but definitely each platform is kind of its unique vibe in a sense, so we’ve been spending a little bit of time just thinking of different strategies to keep growing on those platforms, but at the end of the day, like if I had advice to anybody doing it, you’ve got to stay true to yourself and just be yourself. I’ll take a picture right now and put it into a collage from the weekend and we’ll do that. Everyone smile. I’ll put that in there and then you’ll be in there, but you just have to keep true to yourself and keep it natural, in my opinion. Everything is overproduced right now on Instagram. We need to bring it back to the old ways.”

WHAT IS A WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS LIKE FOR YOU? “It’s busy, for sure. I came out on Monday and landed mid-afternoon. I caught up with some buddies and family and friends. It’s been kind of a different week for me out here. My grandpa had a brain bleed, so he went into the hospital. That kind of sucked, but just spend time with buddies and do competition meeting over the phone, prepare like I would normally, work out. All of that stuff is kind of the same, but I get to go to really good restaurants here in Las Vegas, see my family and friends, and then play a little golf. I did Brendan Gaughan’s celebrity blackjack tournament last night at the South Point, which I want to pat myself on the back because it was my first win in three years. I won last night, so that was pretty cool. I beat Chase Briscoe. It’s fun to be able to come out here and just a change of pace throughout the week. Thirty eight weeks of the same process throughout Monday-Friday, it’s good to change it up. Then we get to the racetrack and I practice and qualify today, and then I have to go to a wedding at four o’clock, so I’m gonna miss the post-practice debrief to go to a wedding. It’s a lot when I come out here. My texts are through the roof because everybody is wanting passes and stuff, but it’s a good problem to have.”

WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE PERSONALLY AND THIS 4 TEAM OVERALL RIGHT NOW? “It’s been a challenging year, just because we had some really good speed to start the year off for the first 12-15 races. I think we were running seventh here with 70-100 to go on a restart in the spring and Bubba and Blaney got into it and we got collected in a wreck on a restart, so we’ve had really good runs. That’s kind of been the story of the first half of the year and that’s put us in a hole to you go out early in qualifying and you’re low on points and it just compounds your weekends negatively and going into the next week, so that’s been a challenge trying to build a buffer and go out later in qualifying. I’d say in 2023 I wrecked a lot on my own and was probably driving over my head. The results have sucked, but we’ve been collected in a lot of wrecks that are out of our own hands, which has been tough, but the speed was really good for the first half of the year and then we’ve kind of been hit or miss the second half. A little bit of that is when we go out to qualify and that just makes the weekend harder. We haven’t lost faith. We have good confidence. I’m confident to go out here this weekend. This is one of my favorite tracks and try to hold it wide-open in qualifying and have a good starting position for the race tomorrow. We’re just trying to take it week by week is what we’ve been doing. We’ll see. We’ll try today in a couple of hours.”

YOU SIGN AUTOGRAPHS FOREVER AND INTERACT WITH YOUR FANS A LOT. DID YOU MODEL THAT AFTER SOMEONE? “I don’t want this to get taken out of context, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a really, really, really good race car driver, but might not have the resume of Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon. He still won a lot of races in the Cup Series, which I’m nowhere near, but I told myself when I was younger when I came out to my first race out here and thought, ‘Man, how can I stay in this sport one day if I ever get to that level?’ I want to be the guy who sells the most t-shirts. That’s what Dale Jr. did. Danica stayed in the sport for a long time and was one of the most popular, so I always told myself that if I could be the guy that could sell the most t-shirts and have the biggest fan base, you’re able to attract partners that way. That’s why I really put out a strong effort and a lot of energy into the fans, just because I am a fan and I’ve always told myself that if I want to make it in this sport, I may not be the best driver, but hopefully I could be a fan favorite too and that could help point me in the right direction. It’s been a crazy ride. It’s been a wild ride, but definitely very grateful for the fan support.”

TALLADEGA IS NEXT WEEK AND YOU WERE FOURTH IN THE SPRING THERE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? “I like Talladega a lot. We’ve had some good runs there and have put ourselves at least in position and contention the last four or five times I’ve run there. We got caught up in the fall race wreck on the backstretch last year when everybody got taken out, but you look at the spring of ‘23 at Talladega, we were up there. We got in a wreck with Chastain. We were leading on the green-white-checker restart next to Blaney, which was pretty cool, and then finished third there last year in the spring, was running good in the fall and then had another solid run this year. We hope to go there and rebound and have a good race and just trying to stack top 10 finishes, top five finishes. I mean, for a majority of the year we just wanted to finish races, but a solid day for us right now is about a top 15. A good day is a top 10 and a great day is a top five, so anything is possible. We’ve put ourselves in the top five or six cars coming into the late-race stages of the Talladega races in recent years, so I’m definitely looking forward to that.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR THE NASCAR COMMUNITY TO HAVE A VIDEO GAME AND THAT THE DRIVERS AND TEAM PROMOTE IT? “I think the first thing is it’s important that we have a good game because we haven’t in the last 10 years, which sucks because I think all of us drivers currently in the series have grown up playing NASCAR video games when they’re really, really good. I know I would race a legend car right over here at the bullring and we’d get done with practice and have down time and set up a little TV and Zane Smith, Riley Herbst and myself would play NASCAR Inside Line together and have fun. We’re definitely gonna play this new NASCAR ‘25, the iRacing game because I got a little sneak peak and played it for a couple minutes and thought I was pretty good. I think it’s important that the product is good. I think the fan base will realize that and support it if the product is good. We haven’t really had that in the last 10 years, unfortunately, but I truly do believe that this year we have a good console game and everybody will enjoy it. It’ll be fun.”

WHEN YOU SEE THE RATINGS FOR A VIDEO GAME LIKE THAT WHAT IS THE FEELING? DO YOU THINK THEY’RE WRONG? IS IT INSULTING? “I don’t really care about that, it’s just you look at who is the best driver in our sport right now? Then why isn’t he 100 overall? It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, but whoever the guy or girl was that did it, they did a bad job, in my opinion, but I personally don’t care if I’m a 71. I made a joke about it saying, ‘Oh, dang. I’m kind of trash. Is that me?’ I just don’t think the facts were really real on anybody’s stats, not even saying mine were low or high or anybody else’s was low or high, it just didn’t really make sense when we were doing it, but the rest of the game is really, really good.”

DO YOU WISH MORE DRIVERS SHOWED MORE OF THEIR PERSONAL LIVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE YOU DO? “I do. I think there’s a lot of good personalities that not a lot of people get to see because in the sense that drivers are handcuffed a little bit maybe with partners or with the sport and Ricky got fined $75,000 grand for probably one of the biggest highlights last year with Kyle Busch and he gets fined for it. It’s tough to really, I’m not saying we need to go fight and stuff, but I think everybody is just kind of scared that they just don’t want to say anything or do anything at all just so they don’t get in trouble. I don’t know. There’s obviously a limit to everything, but you get these guys away from the racetrack and they’re pretty funny guys. You would never think that. I’ve shared a lot of laughs with a lot of guys that I probably thought, ‘Hey, man. There’s no way this guy could be that fun to be around.’ There are some guys that are really, really fun. Everyone is kind of in their unique boat on how much they want to show the general public and what-not, but if it were up to me, everybody would just be outgoing and show them their true colors.”

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THOSE FELLOW DRIVERS THAT MIGHT BE IN THEIR SHELL AND HAVEN’T SHOWED OFF THEIR PERSONALITY? “Maybe they’re smarter than me. I don’t know. If it works for them, it works for them. I just try to be myself at the end of the day. I’m kind of loud, proud and drawing crowd and just trying to have as much fun as possible. I prepare and I work hard behind the scenes that not a lot of people see my work behind closed doors, but I think there’s a time and a place for everything. I feel like if you’re prepared throughout the week and you do your job throughout the week, when I get to the racetrack it’s like a test. If I’m going into a test and I didn’t study, I’m gonna be nervous, but if I studied for the test, I’m gonna be confident and it’s gonna be good. I feel like I take that same thing to the racetrack. I know where I need to run in practice. I know where I need to run in qualifying. I kind of adjust on the fly depending on how the car is handling, but when I get here to the racetrack I truly try to enjoy the moment.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT IS IT LIKE COMING BACK HERE WITH ALL OF YOUR SUCCESS YOU’VE HAD? “It’s always fun coming back here, anywhere where you win and obviously get your first Cup win and have a couple really good Xfinity wins, so it’s always fun to come back here and race. I’m excited for the weekend and hopefully we can build off of what we did in the spring and have another solid run.”

HOW MUCH OF WHAT YOU DO NOW IS PREPARING FOR 2026 VERSUS BEING A SPOILER THE REST OF THIS YEAR? “We’re just going each and every week and trying to perform the best we can. We obviously want to do what we can to learn about our cars and help Ryan and Joey as much as we can through these last few races, but, for us, we just want to string together some solid runs and finish the season strong. The guys have been doing a really good job and we’re just trying to build some momentum for next year.”

NO ONE HAS EVER REPEATED SINCE VEGAS GOT TWO RACES A YEAR. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN? “I think it’ll be similar to the spring. We just need to have a strong car and execute all day and have the right strategy and just find ourselves in position. It’s gonna be tough. Everybody is obviously bringing their best this weekend for sure to try to find their way to Phoenix. It’s gonna be a challenge but, like I said, if we just do what we did in the spring and have a solid car and good pit stops, hopefully we can give ourselves a shot.”

WHERE DO YOU LAND ON THE HORSEPOWER INCREASE? “I think it’s a step in the right direction. I’m sure everybody would like to have more, but you look last week with the amount of tire fall off we had that little bit more horsepower is probably, I think we’re finding our way with all of that. If we continue down the road of the tires wearing out, a little bit more horsepower, I think all of that stuff is directional. If we keep having the tire fall off and stuff like we’ve been seeing from time to time, then we probably aren’t gonna need 1000 horsepower to make better racing.”

IS THERE A POINT WHERE THERE COULD BE TOO MUCH TIRE FALL OFF? “I’m sure there is a point, for sure, but it still opens up the strategy so much. You saw last week watching the end of that race and all the different strategies – three stop, two stop. You take Darlington, for example, with how they split up the runs or have an even split, just having the fall off opens up all that stuff a lot more to where there’s not just one strategy. I think either way it’s still the right direction.”

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW INSIDE THE CAR IN TERMS OF WHERE GUYS ARE IN POINTS AND HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF NASCAR RESTRICTED THAT? “That’s a tough question to answer. It seems like there’s a line, although it’s a squiggly line I guess. I feel like we should know the point situation. I think there’s too much on the line. I guess everybody can have a different opinion of that. For someone like me, if you line up for a late-race restart or at a race like last week where there’s all this chaos. It’s nice to know what’s going on around you before you weigh the risk of the moves you make. Long story short, I feel like if we get to a point where we can’t talk about the points at all, then we might as well just punt and have a different system.”

WHY DO YOU SAY THAT BECAUSE THERE’S ANOTHER SIDE THAT SAYS IT COULD HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE RACE INTEGRITY? “I agree. It’s a hard question to answer because it could easily be interpreted as laying over or not in different situations, but, for me personally, I just like to know. It goes both ways. Obviously, people can think you lay over, but if you miss the corner and slide into Ross and knock him out of the playoffs, then everybody on the internet is gonna be the other way against you, so I just feel like it’s good to have an idea of what you’re going up against and how desperate someone is gonna be or not. I think, to me, that’s where you draw the line. If you just let the driver know what the situation is and let them decide what they want to do, I mean that’s what we get paid to do. I think just explaining the points, maybe, if you’re in that situation it’s a little different than being told to save your tires or whatever.”

HOW MUCH OF THE SETUP FOR THIS RACE IS SIMILAR FROM THE SPRING? “It’s similar, but there are some changes. We’re on a different tire that we ran at Kansas and a couple times before that, so it’s a little bit different tire, so we’re trying to take what we learned there and apply that to here the best we can. Obviously, the weather is different too, but I would say it’s fairly similar, but we’ve tried to adjust for the tire and the weather and hopefully we get it right.”

Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
South Point 400 Media Availability
Saturday, October 11, 2025

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WITH HOW YOU ADVANCED DOES THAT RE-ENERGIZE YOU? “Honestly, I don’t care how we move on. I don’t really care how we win the championship, I just want to win. I don’t care how we get there. I’ve always been that way. I’ve always said it’s about the big trophy at the end of the day. That’s all that matters and how we do it doesn’t matter, whether it’s no wins, five wins, I don’t care. If it’s close at the cut line or easy, it doesn’t matter. It’s all about winning the trophy. My message was basically, ‘Hey, we’ve made it this far, let’s not waste the opportunity.’ We’ve made it to the Round of 8. It’s a great accomplishment, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t get to the Championship 4. And, again, when you make it to the Championship 4, it doesn’t matter if you don’t win the championship. It doesn’t make a difference, so it’s all about getting there right now. That’s the first step. The next step, and then winning the big trophy.”

AS A DRIVER, WHAT IS FAIR FOR YOU TO KNOW AS FAR AS THE POINT SITUATION OF YOU AND OTHER DRIVERS? “I want to know, obviously, my point situation because it matters, but I also want to know the other point situations because that matters too, not necessarily for manipulating the race, but understanding what risk I’m taking. Is this guy in a must-win situation and he’s gonna clobber me? Or, how hard is this car gonna be to pass in general. What are the motives out there, and there are plenty of times throughout the year where Coleman will tell me, ‘Hey, the top three cars on this restart are all must-wins.’ I’m like, ‘OK.’ I might be eighth at that moment or wherever, but just knowing that gives me like, ‘OK, this could be a pretty crazy restart. This might be a little different than what we’ve watched before the race and how we think it’s gonna go and I’ve got to be ready.’ I want to know those things. That helps me, not in a case of changing the outcome or anything like that, but how can I make the 22 car finish better. That’s my job, so how do I do that? How do I accomplish that, and a lot of times I need to know the full story to effectively do my job in the most efficient way on the racetrack and do things right.”

SOME COULD SAY IT OPENS THE POSSIBILITY OF MANIPULATION. ARE YOU OK WITH NOT GETTING THE FULL STORY TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE EVENT? “It’s a slippery slope either way because where is the line? Is just telling somebody where you are in points and what’s going on around you, is that too far? Saying straight-up what to do is probably too far. We can kind of understand that, but just saying what the point situation is, I don’t think that’s too far, in my opinion. At that point, it’s up to the driver to make the best decisions for whatever they’re trying to accomplish, which is usually winning the race. I think just feeding someone data it still leaves it in the driver’s hands to do what they please with it. It’s just giving information. That’s all you’re doing.”

HAVE YOU EXPRESSED THIS OPINION TO NASCAR? “I haven’t talked to them about this in particular, no. I think this is something they need to handle. My opinion, I don’t think, matters too much in this one. Like I said, I think if you’re just saying what’s going on, it’s probably OK, I think. I do think there are some gray lines of, to your point, where is the black and white of this you can do and this you can’t do. I’m sure we could probably tighten some of that up a little bit and just help us understand that.”

THERE WAS TALK OF SHOULD DENNY PASS ROSS OR NOT AND KNOCK YOU OUT. IF A DRIVER WHO KNOWS HE’S ADVANCING TRIES TO KEEP SOMEBODY ELSE OUT IS THAT MANIPULATION OR DOING WHAT IS BEST TO TRY AND GET THE TITLE? “Everyone is gonna have a different opinion on that. I guess in that scenario the 11, Denny, would have to ask himself, ‘What’s gonna give me the best chance to win the championship,’ if that’s your number one goal. If that’s your main goal to do that, what gives me the best chances to win the whole thing. That’s pretty gray, but I don’t really know. It’s pretty tough. That’s why you want to know all the data, but that’s a tough decision and you don’t know what the future is gonna bring. Is one competitor tougher than the other? I don’t know. I don’t know if you want to race against either one of us. Ross has proven to do whatever it takes to get to the next round or to win. He’s done that multiple times. Do you want to race against him? I don’t know. Do you want to race against us? I don’t think so, either. You’re probably in a no win situation, so you might as well just pass him and go and get a better spot.”

OR GET WRECKED. “Or there’s that. Should have waited a little sooner.”

DOES TALLADEGA MATTER IF IT’S IN THIS ROUND OR THE PREVIOUS ROUND? “There’s definitely a difference. There’s only four teams that are gonna make it here, and you put – I hate calling them wild cards because I just hate saying that – but it’s a race where a lot of things can happen. A wreck can take out a few cars more than normal, so it just becomes interesting that way. I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of that where it is in the playoffs, but the rules are the rules and we’re gonna play by them. That’s the whole thing with this whole playoff system. When we start in Daytona, those are the rules. We all know it. We all know the schedule. We all know how everything goes and it’s up to us to figure out how to do it the best. They’re not gonna change because we don’t like it. They are what they are, so let’s go figure out how to win with it.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE DEPTH OF THIS ROUND OF DRIVERS WHEN SEVEN OF EIGHT HAVE MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIP 4 APPEARANCES? “I wouldn’t say there’s any surprises in the Round of 8 here. I think they’re all capable of winning the championship this year – every one of them. There are none that are like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this guy made it this far. That’s crazy.’ I think you’ve got the best eight teams going for it. It’s gonna be a battle right to the end. I don’t see a clear favorite or clear like this person is gonna kill them all. It seems like it’s gonna be close all the way to the end.”

WHAT ARE THE TANGIBLE BENEFITS OF WINNING THIS RACE? WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THE SCENES THAT CAN’T HAPPEN IF YOU DON’T WIN THIS RACE? “There are multiple levels of it. Obviously, as a driver, personally, you’re focused right onto Phoenix right off the bat, so you’re just 100 percent that race. You go through the motions at the other ones, but it’s really just about Phoenix. The team is in a similar mindset already, so that’s definitely giving you some time advantage there. I think there’s something to do with the stress level as well. You have a moment to take a deep breath and regain your thoughts again. The playoffs are tough. These 10 weeks are hard. It’s a grind on everybody and that gives you a couple weeks where you’re not taking them off because you’re so focused on Phoenix, but instead of worrying about three different things, you’re worrying about one thing. All of us know if you do one thing, you’re gonna be better at it versus doing 10 different things halfway. I think that just narrows your focus in and you’re able to do that, and it’s also tough. The race is in Phoenix and you’ve got think when you’re racing in Martinsville your Phoenix car has got to be ready to go already. The truck has got to get out there pretty soon, so it’s not like you have much time to focus just on that one car because your tongue is hanging out just trying to get there first. That’s the first thing you’ve got to do is get there, so when you put all that together it’s a pretty good-sized advantage to win here this weekend.

IS THERE ANY SORT OF DATA THAT YOU KNOW GIVES YOURSELF THE BEST CHANCE TO DO WELL? “Obviously, if you’re fast, that gives you an advantage. A fast car always helps. Qualifying up front always helps. With that said, it doesn’t mean you can’t win any other way. We’ve proven that, that you can win in a lot of different ways in NASCAR. That’s why it’s a team sport. It’s not just about the car and the driver. It’s about the strategy and the pit stops and everything else that goes along with it. There’s a lot that goes into it, so it’s not always about the fastest car that wins the race.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE HORSEPOWER INCREASE NEXT YEAR? “I think it’s directionally correct. It’s obviously not a huge bump in power. It’s the direction they have to go. There’s a lot of limitations that kept them from going more. There’s a lot of parts to that equation. It’s not that simple to just take the tapered spacer off and open them up and let her eat. It sounds cool. It’s easy to say that here, but when you dig a little deeper downstream there are a lot of things that happen to handle that, so I think directionally it’s the right way. I think the biggest thing that I’ve seen here recently in the last six months is what Goodyear is doing. Goodyear is bringing a tire that falls off and we’re seeing that at a lot of different racetracks now. The horsepower will make the fall off a little bit faster. It will happen quicker. There will be more fall off with more horsepower, so it’s directionally kind of going that way, but what Goodyear is doing is the biggest part of the equation, in my opinion.”

DO YOU SEE OR FEEL A DIFFERENCE AMONG THE ENTIRE TEAM OF BEING THIS FAR? “Yes and no. Some things don’t change much because Penske has a process. That’s how we do things is boom, boom, boom all the time, but you do feel a little bit more, I don’t know, there’s just more on the line. The playoffs are there. You start to feel a little bit more of everything. It’s just that the intensity ratchets up and you feel that. I don’t know that the process changes much, but the intensity is definitely ratcheted up.”

IS IT OK TO HAVE IT AS IT IS NOW WITH ONE RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP OR IS THE SPECULATION OF A THREE-RACE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF A GOOD THING? “For us as competitors, we’re gonna see what the rules are and we’re gonna try to win with that. Me as a race fan, and it’s just as an opinion as a race fan, so take me out of the driver’s seat and not as a competitor but someone just watching, I love the one-race where it all comes down to one thing. I love the pressure that it puts on every member of the team. I love that they’ve got to come down pit road and they cannot screw up, and I love that every decision that is made with that race car before it leaves the shop has a direct effect on whether you win the championship or not. It’s the Super Bowl moment. You will leave the racetrack knowing who is the champion. I like it. I personally love that. Not everyone has the same opinion and that’s mine, but that’s mine just as a fan watching. As a competitor, it’s stressful as hell. It’s not a comfortable place to be in. No one would really ever know what that feels like unless you’re in the seat, but it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. As a competitor I’ve been on both ends of those things. I’ve been on the end of one pit stop keeping us from a win, one final restart from keeping us. I’ve been one run where our car was good and put a set of tires on and it vibrated and we lost the championship because of it. So be it. Those were the rules when we got them and we played by them and you’ve got to try to make the best of that. Personally, I love it. Even as a competitor I do think it’s cool too, but that’s just my opinion and everyone’s got one.”

DO YOU FEEL YOUR COMPETITORS HAVE A SENSE OF, ‘OH, BOY. JOEY GOT IN THIS TIME AROUND? ”You probably have to ask them that. I don’t know. I’ve just got to stay focused on us and stay focused on the 22. That’s the car that matters to me. If they feel that way, great. We’re in their head.”

DOES THIS FEEL SIMILAR TO LAST YEAR GIVEN HOW YOU BARELY GOT IN? “It’s been a fairly similar year up to this point, yes, but what you did last year doesn’t matter. Your past success doesn’t guarantee future success in any way. It proves you know how to do it. It proves you can handle things, but every day is different.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU THRIVE ON BEING A GUY WHERE PEOPLE ARE LIKE, ‘HE’S IN IT AGAIN.’ “I like it. I’d by lying if I said I didn’t like it, but it’s only that way because we’ve been that team. It’s just the way we’ve been able to approach the playoffs and we just have a mentally tough team all the way through. They’re a bunch of resilient, tough people that just keep grinding. That’s how we do it. I wouldn’t say we do it in a flashy way, we just keep grinding away and hopefully things work out. They have in the past because we’ve just stayed tough. I know that’s a simple way of looking at it, but sometimes that’s OK.”

Toyota GAZOO Racing – Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LAS VEGAS (October 11, 2025) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB drivers Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek were made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB

ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB

Can you tell us about your experience at UFC?

NEMECHEK: “Yeah, UFC was a lot of fun for me and Erik. Being able to tour the UFC performance Institute was really interesting. I know a few of you guys have been able to tour the Toyota Performance Center and being able to compare and contrast what they do, at their performance institute to how Erik and I and some of the other Toyota drivers trained at TPC was really interesting. There is a lot of crossover, a lot of things that we have as far as equipment and resources that they have. Then being able to train with Forrest Griffin, one of the legends in the UFC world was really fun. Being able to somewhat spar against him was a really good time. I actually enjoyed it and I mean, he’s a legend. So being able to just be in his presence and chat and understand things that they go through, their mindset and how they prepare for fights, their recovery aspect, there was a lot there that we were able to see and dive into and ask questions about how and kind of do a little bit of a crossover from our world to theirs. It was super unique, super interesting and had a lot of fun.”

JONES: “Yeah, I was fun. It was cool to see, you know, not only the tools they had, but some of the similarities were kind of interesting. Obviously, a lot different. They’re going through a lot more with their bodies and what we go through, so it’s interesting just to see their recovery and how they handle that. I don’t know if I enjoyed the sparring very much. I was pretty scared to try to him in the face like he told me. His eyes get kind of crazy when you start going. I was like, yeah, I don’t know. I’m good. I don’t really want to get hit in the face here. But it was cool. He was a super nice guy and just chatting with him and learning a little bit about the sport. I honestly don’t know a whole lot about the UFC, so it was neat just to see that side of it and learn a little bit more.

Are there any synergies with UFC and NASCAR?

JONES: “Yeah, I mean, some maybe. I think it’s really different for them. They don’t have partners and we’re obviously heavily influenced by partners in what they need and want from us and what we can provide from them. I think there’s probably a lot of personality in our sport that’s in some of the guys are pretty, they’re a little more out there than what they let out and maybe into the media, not necessarily me, but some of the guys are. I think the UFC is a little bit more able to embrace that at times than probably what we are, but I think their promotion and the way they look at things are similar. They are a bigger sport just because they’re global, but I think with it, I would say that they are a ninch sport, the UFC, I wouldn’t say it’s, it’s mainstream as the NFL, right? So I think we shared some of those similarities and those challenges of being a sport like that, but other than that, that’s really all I see.”

How difficult is it to balance what your focus is for the rest of the season versus racing the championship drivers?

NEMECHEK: “Who says we’re giving up anything, we’re out here to win races. We’re out here to do the best that we possibly can for, ourselves, our team, all the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Yes, we’re not a part of the playoffs, yes, we’re not contending for a championship this year, but we looked at it, at least for our 42 group, we look at it as an opportunity to go out possibly spoil that but also continue to try to get better. We’ve made a lot of improvements over the last 10 months, I would say, at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, at certain race tracks more than others, but we look at it at it as opportunity to continue to try and build our notebook and learn and try and going into next year to be a Playoff contender. So, these races are very important, especially with the Playoff format, being able excel in all of the playoff races if you are able to make it. There’s definitely an asterisk to every race track in the Playoffs for sure. I mean, obviously, there’s a level of respect there from the guys that are going through the Playoffs and contending for a championship, and you don’t want to be the one that makes a mistake and wrecks them and takes them out of championship, contention, right? But at the same time, we’re all here to race and we’re all here to provide the best possible opportunity we can for our team, ourselves, everyone, that is behind us, our partners and our team owners to go out and try to win races and put ourselves up front.”

JONES: “I mean, I don’t think I see it a whole lot different. We trying to obviously run the best we can. I think tomorrow, here, and next weekend at Talladega, there’s nothing really stopping us from winning here or Talladega, and that really would turn your season around, whether I would love to say the 43 wins them both, but if the 42 and the 43 can win one of these races, it would be great for the company. So, I think as far as that goes, that’s that opinion. But I think you’re kind of asking about the Playoff guys and what that means for us, and, yeah, you got to show a little bit extra respect, been on each side of it, right? I’ve been in the Playoffs and had to race guys that aren’t and there’s times where it’s an incredibly frustrating when that level of respect isn’t there. For me, I hope, we’re in a position where, I don’t see that we’re a lifelong non-Playoff team, right? I think we’re training to be a Playoff team, and so if that means giving those guys a couple extra inches in the next four weeks so that next year, maybe they remember that. I think that’s the way I look at it, but I definitely would love to also, if we’re an opportunity to win a race, you know, I think that changes a bit.”

How was the interaction with Sean Strickland?

JONES: “I’m not saying what he said, but he was a nice guy. He is definitely funny. (laughter)”

NEMECHEK: “Yeah. He definitely was. That was the second time I’ve been able to meet Sean (Strickland) and like Erik (Jones) said, they really don’t hold anything back, let’s say, as far as what they say and how they trash talk and things of that sort, they’re able to embrace it a little bit more without having to, I guess, be aware of what they say for partners and things of that sort when representing their brand. So it was fun. He’s a great guy. We got a chuckle out of what he said, let’s put it that way.”

He ask you to spar?

NEMECHEK: “He didn’t. I was joking with Forrest (Griffin) and after we got done with the boxing side of things that I wanted to go roll around with Forrest and I’m not sure that he was nervous about it. He said he stopped rolling and whatnot a couple of years ago, and he was going to go find Sean and I backed out pretty quick. I didn’t want to get my butt beat, so yeah, it was good.”

Compared to a year ago, how do you feel like you are as a team?

JONES: “I think we’re in a lot better position right now. I think there’s still some things to iron out and some issues that we have as a company that we’re working on fixing. There’s still some roles that are being decided and some people that we need. We have a lot of good leadership, a lot of young leadership in experience level, you know, guys that are in position as they just haven’t been in before and so they’re still learning and figuring that role out. Our engineering core is very, very young. I would say that’s probably our biggest challenge ahead is just to grow that group and get them experienced. I think they’re all really talented, but they’re just very low in experience, so growing that group out – that’s really important. But, you know, to say one year ago today, sitting here, yeah, I mean, definitely a way better spot for me and at least excitement level, I can tell you a year ago today, I wasn’t very excited to go to the track for the last month, but for me today, definitely excited to be here. All the races really left this year because I think we we’re going in a good direction. I think our cars are getting faster, and I think the people involved are in the right spots as well. So definitely, yeah, big turnaround from one year and hope that we can just keep it going. It’s kind of easy; I’ve said this a lot of times before in our rebuilding process, you know, if you’re you show up the race track and you’re a half second off, it’s easy to find that first three tenths. That’s not hard, that’s just building a little bit better car, having some good people. That last tenth, two tenths, that’s kind of the magic, and I think that’s the world we’re starting to living a little bit.”

This is the same tire as Kansas. What did you learn there that you can apply here?
NEMECHEK: “I think we learned some things that work and some things that won’t work as far as setup wise. Things that we struggled with, at Kansas, that hopefully we can apply to our race cars here to make them better than we were in Kansas. We had really strong runs here and Kansas the first time that came here in the Spring with an different tire, so trying to learn what this tire wants from a setup perspective, spring perspective, shock perspective, how it migrates through the run, the tire fall off, how they build heat or how they wear. You can definitely take some of those things into consideration for sure. I think for us being able to apply the things that we learned that didn’t necessarily work at Kansas and trying going a little bit different avenue to make our cars better is what we’re excited to see, where we stack it up when we unload later today and practice and qualify”

JONES: “I think we probably leaned on some ideas that we’re a little bit different for Kansas just to try to get better, and they weren’t necessarily the right direction as far as the tire goes. I mean, it’s what Harry Hogge said in Days of Thunder. It’s slicker than a butt in that trioval. That’s what it feels like on the tire. It’s just has no grip. So, it’s kind of the direction we’ve been going with the tires everywhere. We saw that at the ROVAL last week and we’ll see it here today. It’s going to be hot and slicker than a butt. So, it’s just different. So, we kind of are trying different stuff to try to figure out what that tire wants. Migration’s huge with it, trying to get that better, and some of that at Kansas is what led us down that road, but I think we learned a little bit what doesn’t work. So, try some different stuff here and probably go back a little bit on some other stuff.”

What are your thoughts on the horsepower changes and potential Playoff changes for 2026?

NEMECHEK: “I’m not sure how much’s different the 750 package is going to make a lot of the racing, but I definitely hope that it helps on some of the short tracks from tire degradation, tire wear, being able to manage your stuff and be able to show out, right? Who knows how that’s going to work, right? Time will tell. But I’m excited for more horsepower. I think everyone us is from the driver’s standpoint with that being said, one of the areas where I feel like we struggled as a company is short tracks and the small rear diffuser package.

So definitely something that we’re gonna have to work on very hard over the offseason, trying to put grip in our race car and trying to understand that a little bit more from Erik (Jones) and I’s perspective, as well, to be able to get our cars better for next year. So, I’m not sure really how it’s going to affect us. Maybe just make your handling problems worse with having more horsepower and tire fall off a little bit more, but it definitely can’t hurt, so excited for the more horsepower package for sure.”

JONES: “It’s tough I go back and forth on this battle all the time, I’ve seen it both ways in the sport, right? I’ve seen where we’ve taken it down to, whatever it was, 550 horsepower package, five or six years ago, when I showed up in this sport, it was, the first Cup race I ever did, we had 900 horsepower, and then we had 750 horsepower, and then we had 500 horsepower and we had 670 horsepower, so I ran a lot of different horsepower. At the end of the day, when I go to my local short track, my favorite race in the night is usually like the street stocks, and they’re not very fast, so I don’t know that going faster is always your answer to better racing. I think that’s a bit of a myth. Maybe the bigger horsepower car on a better show. I don’t know. It’s a way different car, way different brakes and tires, so we probably need to just try it because right now the road course and short track races – I don’t know what you guys think, but when I watch them back, not on the edge of my seat most of the time. So, yeah, we definitely need to try something. I hope it’s better, but I honestly, I just don’t know. I really don’t.”

What was your memories working with Venturini Motorsports?

JONES: “I didn’t do a ton of races with them. They had just changed the age of that point in ARCA and I came in and did a race as a 15-year-old and that was a crazy experience, but you know, we won a race there at Berlin, which is one of my home tracks, that was really cool. Like growing up as a kid racing there and watching guys and racing there myself, that was always like the big talk if you got to run the ARCA race, and if you could you know win the ARCA race, the local guys there who were really successful always tried to run it and usually ran really well in it. That was a place that, especially then, if you were someone local, you usually did pretty well in that race. So that was my fondest memory. We went there and won that one hometown win for me. It was a lot of fun. I think that was 2013. So, one of my bigger wins at that point, first kind of national series win, but, yeah, I mean, I think, I don’t know. I think Billy’s (Venturini) is going to get bored. He’s a pretty energetic guy. I’m not sure what retirement or if this is retirement for him or what his plan is. I’m excited, you know, for their future and what they got, but definitely that was my best memory.”

NEMECHEK: “I only drove with one race for Venturini and it was when I was running in the Truck Series with KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) a few years ago. We ran at Mid-Ohio. Qualified on the pole, it rained, I think I lapped up to land fourth or fifth, should have won the race. We elected stay on wet tires instead of dry tires as the racetrack, dried out, I think we finished fifth or sixth. It was a great experience being around Billy (Venturini) and Big Bill (Venturini) and that whole family, they had definitely given it a lot to the whole sport. They’ve been around forever, and won a lot of races, and won a lot of championships and I’m not sure what their future holds but thank you to them is pretty much all I have to say for what they’ve been able to give back to racing in general. True racers at heart.”

How do you compensate for the weather difference between today and tomorrow?

JONES: “This place is pretty temperature sensitive, oddly enough, but you know, I think today you’ll be moving around a lot. You’ll see you guys probably getting up by the wall even in practice, I would imagine, at least third or fourth lane and qualifying is going to be, I don’t know, treacherous is the right word, but it’s going to be difficult to know how much speed to carry and it’s going to be a fine balance, not carrying too much and ruining your lap. So that’ll be pretty challenging today compared to what it was in the Spring, which we were I felt like we were at Talladega. So that’ll be fun. Tomorrow, you know, with being in that cool, I think it’s going to be probably on the bottom. I don’t know, maybe this tire moves around a little bit more, but the wind affects it a lot too. Looks like we’ve got a big, I don’t see any flags, but I think we’ve got a big headwind down the back today, which is a bit backwards for here. I think with weather and stuff that came through. So, we’ll see what that does for tomorrow, it will affect it a lot, but it’s going to narrow the track up tomorrow, I think, with cooler temps.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Fans invited to join the Wood Brothers for a day of history, activities and fun

STUART, Va. (Oct. 10, 2025) – Wood Brothers Racing will welcome fans back to its hometown later this month, leading into the Martinsville Speedway race weekend, for a special 75th Anniversary Fan Day celebration at the Wood Brothers Museum in Stuart, Virginia.

The event will take place Friday, October 24, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., serving as one of the final cornerstone celebrations of the team’s diamond anniversary season. Fans can enjoy an afternoon filled with driver appearances, Q&A sessions, autograph opportunities, raffle prizes, trivia, giveaways and more. The Wood Brothers Museum will be fully open throughout the day, featuring historic cars, artifacts and memorabilia spanning the team’s 75-year history.

Nine drivers connected to the Wood Brothers legacy are scheduled to attend throughout the afternoon, including Donnie Allison, Trevor Bayne, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Harrison Burton, Dale Jarrett, Paul Menard, Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip. Each group of drivers will participate in a Q&A session followed by an autograph signing. Wristbands are required for driver autograph sessions and will be distributed beginning as early as 11:30 a.m. on the morning of the event, with limited quantities available for each group.

Members of the Wood family will also host autograph sessions throughout the day – no wristbands required – allowing fans to meet multiple generations of the family behind NASCAR’s oldest active team.

Additional attractions include a NASCAR Hall of Fame booth and a team store offering special anniversary apparel and collectible sheet metal. Local favorites Palumbo’s Food Truck and Kona Ice will also be on site, serving food and refreshments throughout the event.

The Kids Zone will offer plenty of fun for younger fans, including bounce houses, a scavenger hunt, free gift bags and hands-on activities at the NASCAR Hall of Fame booth.

Primary parking will be available in the grass lot to the left of the main museum entrance. Once that lot reaches capacity, overflow parking will be directed to a nearby location. A continuous shuttle service will operate throughout the event, transporting guests to and from the museum for convenient access.

Driver Autograph Sessions (100 Wristbands Available for Groups 1 and 2; 200 Wristbands Available for Group 3)

Group 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Donnie Allison, Trevor Bayne, Dale Jarrett
Group 2 – 3:30 p.m.: Harrison Burton, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler
Group 3 – 5:15 p.m.: Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Paul Menard

Wood Family Autograph Sessions (No Wristband Required)
Group 1 – 2:15 p.m.: Wood Family Members
Group 2 – 4:15 p.m.: Wood Family Members
Group 3 – 5:30 p.m.: Wood Family Members

Activities & Activations Open All Afternoon (2 p.m. – 7 p.m.)

Team Museum & Store (Opens at 9 a.m.)
Leonard Wood, Delano Wood Exhibit
NASCAR Hall of Fame Booth Activities
No. 21 Ford Motorcraft Show Car Display
Inflatables
Scavenger Hunt
Palumbo’s Food Truck
Kona Ice

Full Schedule of Activities
Friday, October 24 (All Times ET)

9:00 a.m.: Museum Opens
11:30 a.m.: Wristband Distribution Begins
2:00 p.m.: Fan Day Officially Opens, Activities Begin
2:05 p.m.: Welcome & Introduction Q&A with Ford Motor Company Representatives
2:15 p.m.: Donnie Allison, Dale Jarrett, Trevor Bayne Q&A Session
2:15 p.m.: Wood Family Autograph Session
2:30 p.m.: Donnie Allison, Dale Jarrett, Trevor Bayne Autograph Session
2:45 p.m.: Trivia Round 1
3:15 p.m.: Harrison Burton, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler Q&A Session
3:30 p.m.: Harrison Burton, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler Autograph Session
3:45 p.m.: Trivia Round 2
4:00 p.m.: First & Second Generation Wood Family Q&A Session
4:15 p.m.: Wood Family Autograph Session
5:00 p.m.: Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry Q&A Session
5:15 p.m.: Trivia Round 3
5:15 p.m.: Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry, Paul Menard Autograph Session
5:30 p.m.: Wood Family Autograph Session

The Wood Brothers Museum is located at 21 Performance Drive, Stuart, VA 24171.

About Wood Brothers Racing
Founded in 1950 by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood in Stuart, Virginia, Wood Brothers Racing holds a special place in NASCAR history as the sport’s longest-running team. Over eight decades, the team has earned 101 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, along with 120 poles, and remains proud of its longstanding relationship with Ford Motor Company, fielding only Ford products since its inception. Glenn’s brother, Leonard Wood, played a key role in shaping modern racing by developing the techniques behind today’s pit stops. With a rich legacy rooted in innovation and tradition, Wood Brothers Racing continues to honor its heritage while adapting for the future as it competes in NASCAR’s premier series with Josh Berry.